As far as I know right now, there is going to be three films but the story of the Hobbit is in the first two. I don't remember the book too well but I think they're running another plot line across the first two that leads into the third, based on a particular scene that I am rather certain was not in the book but I know happened to lead up to the events between the Hobbit and LOTR.

Spoiler!

The meeting of the White Council at Rivendell. Since Bilbo wasn't there it wouldn't have been in The Hobbit. At it they discuss the Necromancer in Mirkwood and I know that the White Council oust it from there inbetween The Hobbit and LOTR, so I guess that's going to be the bulk of the third film.

Huh. I haven't read The Hobbit in over a decade, and I was so bored by the first Lord of the Rings book that I quit it not too far after Tom Bombadil, so I have no idea what that really means. Jackson will obviously be throwing some action in there too, I reckon. Still seems really pointless.

@Stevil: I don't know, I still haven't seen Infernal Affairs, but I like The Departed well enough. And I love all the classic Westerns (Leone's Man With No Name, etc) that were adaptations of Kurosawa films. This is just going the other way. Plus Ken Watanabe is so handsome ^_^

@Stevil: I don't know, I still haven't seen Infernal Affairs, but I like The Departed well enough. And I love all the classic Westerns (Leone's Man With No Name, etc) that were adaptations of Kurosawa films. This is just going the other way. Plus Ken Watanabe is so handsome ^_^

Infernal Affairs > The Departed

I like both, but IA is leaner, subtle with the acting, less absurd with the violence, and a lot more focused. If I had to choose between watching one or the other, I'd pick IA every time. The Departed is a bit bloated and daft in comparison, but that's because everyone is doing "big acting" and it tries jamming in plot elements from Infernal Affairs 2.

Unforgiven is a weird kind of remake, and I don't think it has that kind of pedigree behind it, which makes the original facinating. It's a love letter to the western, it's also the death of all of those myths, plus its Clint's reflection on all the "heroic" characters he played for Leone and Siegel. The movie is about him as much as it is about the genre.

This just seems like Unforgiven but set in Japan and not much else; which ain't bad and it definitely has something to work with - the romance of a ronin - but I don't feel like it'll have much to say.

Kurosawa remakes are fine. I like the concept of Seven Samurai. You can take it out of Feudal Japan and stick it in a Western/Sci-Fi/whatever to get the same results. Same goes for Yojimbo; another movie you can set anywhere - even if Last Man Standing was a bit meh. I think those movies really depend on a good eye, than the simple stories involved.

The Invisible Man (1933) - Man, Claude Rains is awesome. He had a really menacing voice, so he's able to be taken seriously even when saying some pretty silly lines. On more than one occasion, he says he has the power to make the world "grovel at my feet", even though world domination through mere invisibility seems pretty ridiculous. This aspect of the film I think is played very tounge-in-cheek, and the movie in general has a very humorous tone to it, provided by the delightfully deranged invisible man. Also, the special effects are amazing for the time, and although flawed, still fascinates today. It's one of the most entertaining movies of the time that I've seen.

Final Nightmare was pretty meh, just felt sort of tired and didn't really have much direction. Most of the deaths just felt like they were scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas - there's even an inexplicable early 90's videogame scene at one point that just feels tacky.

Pan's Labyrinth I really enjoyed. Loved the mix of fantasy and really dark historical setting, and I like how simple the story was, just felt really well done generally.

Final Nightmare was pretty meh, just felt sort of tired and didn't really have much direction. Most of the deaths just felt like they were scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas - there's even an inexplicable early 90's videogame scene at one point that just feels tacky.

Caught The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey today. I watched two of the three LotR movies earlier this year, and recall the third well enough to say that I'm pretty sure I like this movie more than any of those. If the next two keep it up this trilogy will easily be one I watch more often than the previous one. Everything just works better for me, from the protagonists to things like the camera work. None of that weird slowed down/blurred stuff like when the Uruk'hai were running through the woods in Fellowship (that annoys me every time I see it). Bilbo and the dwarves are more interesting and fun to watch than Frodo and Sam, though of course I dig the LotR movies' cast and characters as well. I will say that there being so many members of the Dwarven company in this means that there are a few that just don't stand out, though most of them get their chance in this first Hobbit flick.

Something that stood out to me was the male-bonding vibe in it, which in retrospect made me think about all the male-bonding in the LotR movies. Which made me think about all the male-bonding in adventure and action movies in general. Or even movies in general.

Man...you know what I just realized? I should watch more movies that involve male bonding. I tried to think of an example just now and came up completely blank. All the stuff I like is about isolated loners. Like the TDK trilogy, Saw II, The Usual Suspects...alright so Usual Suspects does involve male bonding. I like the part where del Toro starts talking in his tard voice and the other actors can't keep a straight face. That was genuine too, nobody planned it.

I'm also comparing myself to del Toro because I have no idea where I'm going with this

Funny story about the line-up scene in Usual Suspects: it was supposed to be serious, but del Toro couldn't stop farting, so everyone kept cracking. Finally the director said fuck it and let them be idiots. As an added bit, the fourth guy in the line is known for being quite serious, so they spent the entire movie trying to get him to laugh. They finally did. All because of del Toro's stank ass.

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